Ammunition-lubrication device



T. H. EICKHOFF.

AMMUNITION LUBRICATION DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29. 1920.

1,361,373. Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

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THEODGRE H. EICKHOFF, E CLEVELAND, OHIG, ASSIGNOB, T0 AUTO-ORDINANCE COR- PGRATION, OF NEVI YORK, N. 1, A CCRPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AMIVIUNITION-LUBBICATION DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. "7, 1920.

Application filed June 29, 1920. Serial No. 392,662.

To all 107mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE H. EIGK- rrorr, citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ammunition-Lubrication Devices, of which the following is a specification.

T he present invention relates to a new and improved method and means for lubricating a gun and more particularly for supplying lubrication to the bore of a gun.

In high powered arms of types now in use the chamber pressures caused by the combustion of the propelling charge are exceedingly high. Cartridge cases are preferably formed of relatively soft metals such as copper alloys and high chamber pressure and the soft cartridge case result in pressing the case into very intimate contact with the chamber walls and in distorting the case to fit any slight irregularities in those walls. The result of this action is often to render very diflicult and uncertain the extraction of the cartridge case, the case occasionally being ruptured by the force applied by the extractor and a part remaining in the chamher. The rupture is very often found adjacent the necking down of the cartridge near the bullet as at this point the explosive pressure due to the charge has a pronounced forward component.

These difliculties are a fruitful source of jams and this is particularly true of automatic or semi-automatic arms where the cartridge is removed very rapidly and is started rearward with a very sudden jar.

Another deleterious effect of the high chamber pressure is the erosion of the bore caused by the heated gases. This is particularly marked where sustained bursts are fired and the barrel becomes very hot. The temperature and the erosive efiects are greatest immediately adjacent the powder chamber where the gases leave the cartridge case and come into immediate contact with the bore.

It has been found by xperiment that the injection of a lubricating liquid into the bore between shots during the course of fire has a marked effect in reducing this erosion and in prolonging the accuracy life of the barrel. This lubricant also acts to very materially reduce the friction between the cartridge case and chamber and thus to be a great aid in reducing or eliminating jams and in speeding up the action of the piece.

Certain devices have heretofore been devised in the endeavor to secure the advantage of lubrication of the barrel, but these devices have, in general, been more or less complicated in design, comprising gearing or force pumps all of which require a plurality of parts thus adding materially to the weight of the piece and also requiring a diversion of a portion of the operating force of the gun. 1

As distinguished from these prior devices my invention utilizes inertia to cause the fiow of lubricant and in specific forms it utilizes for this purpose the inertia of the lubricant itself.

In many high powered automatic or semiautomatic guns, the cartridge case is moved rearwardly in ejection before the chamber pressure has been reduced to that of the atmosphere and when this. movement of the cartridge case uncovers the lubricating port, this chamber pressure tends to back up in the oil tank. This has the result of blowing out a large amount of oil when the chamber pressure returns to atmospheric pressure or below that in the oil tank.

It is therefore necessary in such arms to provide means to prevent this backing up of pressure and to limit the amount of oil to be ejected after each shot.

In the use of an inertia lubricator the oil ejected may vary somewhat depending upon the amount of oil in the reservoir and also held which latter affects the recoil of the piece on firing. F or these reasons it is desirable to provide means for regulating and making uniform the amount of oil ejected.

It is an object of the present invention to provide new and improved means adapted to lubricate elements of a gun. It is an object to provide a lubricating device for use in connection with guns, which device is compact, light in weight and simple in construction. It is also an object to provide a device which is positive in its action and yet which absorbs none of the actuating energy of the piece to which it is attached. It is an object to provide in connection with such a device means for limiting and regulating the amount of lubricant ejected and means for preventing the passage of the chamber pressure into the lubricant reservoir. It is an additional object to provide an oil receiving and distributing groove in the cartridge chamber so situated and formed as to obviate danger of affecting the extraction of the cartridge. Other and further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1. shows my device attached to a gun, only such portions of the gun being shown as are necessary to make clear the relation of my device to the gun structure;

Fig. 2 is a broken away view similar to Fig. 1 and showing a modified form of the device;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the valve mem ber of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 1 is an enlarged detail showing the groove in the cartridge chamber.

The gun elements shown in Fig. 1 comprise the barrel B, receiver R, and breech closure C, a cartridge D being shown in the chamber of the barrel. These form no part of my present invention.

In this figure is shown the oil reservoir M having the capped filling opening 0 and the outlet opening P on the lower part of its forward end. This outlet P is extended into the upwardly extending tube Q, the upper end of which is reduced at T and fitted into a correspondingly shaped recess in the barrel B. The upper port in the portion T opens into a passage X drilled through the barrel B. Obviously the reservoir may be attached to the adjacent portion of the gun or inclosed in the forepiece or stock in any desired manner, depending somewhat upon the form and contour of these parts.

Fig. 2 shows the several parts similar to those in Fig. 1 and here indicated by the same reference character with the addition of the prime mark. The variation consists in the fact that the upper portion of the tube Q is widened to form the seat Q and screwed into the seat is the cap E opening into the passage X, the opening in the cap being surrounded by the downwardly ex tending nipple F. Clamped between the seat Q and the cap E is the valve member G- shown in Fig. 3 which comprises a disk of resilient metal having the flap G formed by the cut G This flap Gr covers the orifice in the top of the tube Q and opens only in an upward direction.

As shown in detail in Fig. 4, the oil distributin groove is formed immediately adjacent the point where the chamber begins to decrease in diameter to fit the neck of the cartridge case. The groove is nowhere of greater diameter than the cartridge chamber to the rear of it and thus even if the heavy chamber pressure should in the case of a weak cartridge expand it to fill the groove, the extraction of the case would not be rendered diflicult.

However firmly a rifle may be held to the shoulder or a machine gun fixed to a tripod, there is, nevertheless, a certain amount of recoil due to each shot. This recoil is very short if the gun is mounted firmly and may be a jump of but a small fraction of an inch, but it will be found to exist under any practical use of guns in the field.

The lubricant placed in the reservoir is a relatively mobile oil and its inertia is such that the short but sharp recoil jolt or jar is sufficient to cause the oil to flow up the tube Q and in the form shown in Fig. 1 a small amount will be ejected through the port X into the cartridge chamber oi the gun after each shot.

If hand operated arms are used the oil will flow around the channel Y and some will adhere to the cartridge and be deposited on the walls of the chamber as the cartridge is ejected and will be, in part at least, picked up by the succeeding cartridge and be further distributed on the chamber walls. Hand ejection will not ordinarily be sufficiently rapid to remove the empty cartridge case before the oil flow due to inertia has subsided. In many guns of the automatic or semi-automatic type the empty cartridge case will be part way extracted before the pressure in the barrel has been reduced to atmospheric and if the form of lubricating device shown in Fig. 1 is used in such cases there will be a tendency for thechamber pressure to blow down the port X and back up in the chamber M. Then when the chamber pressure has reached normal or less than that in the chamber M a quantity of oil would be forced out into the barrel.

In such guns the device of Fig. 2 will be necessary to prevent this excessive lubrica tion. In this device inertia will force oil past the flexible valve G some passing up to port X but most of it being trapped in the cup. The chamber pressure coming down the port X will back up in the top of the cup Q about the nipple F and when the chamber pressure is reduced this backed up pressure will force oil from the cup into the chamber. The flap valve G will prevent this pressure from reaching the main oil reservoir M. The amount of oil to be injected into the chamber will be dependent upon the size of the cup Q and of the cap E and nipple F.

In either form the channel Y may be omitted if desired and the size of the port X may be varied depending upon the amount of oil it is desired to eject, the amount of recoil of the particular piece and the degree of viscosity of the oil used. Oil here is used as a generic term and obviously any lubricating element desired may be placed in the reservoir. The cap of the filling opening 0 may be provided with a check the cartridge is seated as I have found this to be the most advantageous location, but it may be located at any desired point without variation in the utility of my method of oil supply.

I claim:

1. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, and a port leading from the forward portion of the reservoir whereby lubricant from the reservoir may be driven through the port by inertia upon the recoil of the gun.

2. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir, attached thereto, and a. port leading from the forward end of the reservoir whereby lubricant from the reservoir may be driven through the port by inertia upon the recoil of the un.

a 3. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, and a port leading forwardly and upwardly from the forward end of the reservoir whereby lubricant from the reservoir may be driven through the port by inertia upon the recoil of the gun, the port opening into the cartridge chamber in the barrel of the gun.

l. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, and a relatively restricted port leading from the forward end of the reservoir whereby lubricant from the reservoir may be driven through the port by inertia upon the recoil of the gun.

5. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, and a port leading from the forward portion of the reservoir whereby lubricant from the reservoir may be driven through the port by the inertia of the lubricant upon the recoil of the gun.

6. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, and a relatively restricted port leading forwardly and upwardly from the reservoir whereby lubricant from the reservoir may be driven through the port by the inertia of the lubricant upon the recoil of the un. a 7. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, and a port leading forwardly and upwardly from the reservoir whereby lubricant from the reservoir may be driven through the port by inertia upon the recoil of the gun.

8. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir, a port leading from the reservoir, a check valve in said port adapted to prevent passage through the port toward the reservoir, a lubricant cup beyond the check valve and a passage therefrom leading to the cartridge chamber of the gun, the entrance of the passage being through a nipple extending downward into the cup.

9. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir, a port leading from the reservoir to the cartridge chamber of the gun, and a lubricant distributing groove in the chamber, no portion of the groove extending radially outward beyond the contour of the portion of the chamber immediately in the rear thereof.

10. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir, a port leading from the reservoir to the cartridge chamber of the gun, and a lubricant distributing groove encircling the chamber no portion of the groove being of greater diameter than the portion of the chamber immediately in the rear thereof.

11. In a gun provided with a cartridge chamber having a tapered neck, an annular groove formed in said neck, and means for supplying lubricant to said groove to lubricate the case of a cartridge in the chamber, said groove opening rearwardly with no portion extending beyond the circumference of the chamber in the rear thereof so that a cartridge case forced into the groove by pressure within the case will not be locked in the chamber.

12. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, a passage leading from the reservoir, the end of the passage being enlarged to form a cup, a check valve seated in the enlargement, a cap seated above the check valve and having a cavity formed therein, and a port leading from the cavity into the chamber of the gun.

13. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, a passage leading from the reservoir, the end of the passage being enlarged to form a cup, a check valve seated in the enlargement, a cap seated above the check valve and having a cavity formed therein, and a port leading from the cavity into the chamber of the gun, the entrance to the port being through a nipple extending down into the cavity.

14:. In a gun provided With a cartridge chamber having a tapered neck, an annular groove formed in said neck, and means for supplying lubricant to said groove to lubricate the case of a cartridge in the chamber, said groove connecting substantially tangentially with the wall of the chamber immediately in the rear of said neck.

15. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, a port leading from the reservoir, a check valve in theport, a cup beyond the check valve and a port leading from the cup to the chamber of the gun, the reservoir port being so related to the reservoir as to permit lubricant from the reservoir to be driven through the port and past the check valve by inertia upon the recoil of the gun.

1-6. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, a port leading from the reser voir, a check valve in the port, a cup beyond the check valve and a port leading from the cup to the chamber of the gun, the reservoir port being so related to the reservoir as to permit lubricant from the reservoir to be driven through the-port and past the check valve by inertia upon the recoil of the gun, the cup being adapted to receive pressure from the powder chamber during extraction of a cartridge case and to cause the pressure to eject liquid from the cup when the pressure in the chamber is reduced below that in the cup.

17. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, a port leading from the reservoir, a check valve in the port, a cup beyond the check valve and a nipple extending down into the cup, a port leading through the nipple from the cup to the chamber of the gun, the reservoir port being so related to the reservoir as to permit lubricant from the reservoir to be driven through the port and past the check valve by inertia upon the recoil of the gun.

18. In a gun, a lubricant reservoir attached thereto, a port leading from the reservoir, a check valve in the port, a cup beyond the check valve and anipple extending down into the cup, a port leading through the nipple from the cup to the chamber of the gun, the reservoir port being so related to the reservoir as to permit lubricant to be driven by the inertia of the lubricant upon the recoil of the gun through the port and past the check valve into the cup to fill the cup beyond the lower end of the nipple, vhereby pressure from the chamber may back up above the lubricant around the nipple to force the lubricant in the cup into the chamber.

Signed by me at Cleveland, Ohio, this 24th day of June, 1920.

THEODORE H.- EICKHOFF, 

